1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic device intended for use as a tag to be attached to identify contents of the container to which it is attached. In particular, the present invention relates to an electronic tag which has a facility for storing delivery information and is equipped with a responding means for transmitting delivery information stored therein in response to a query signal received from an interrogating apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a conventional distribution system such as the private mail delivery system, the customer (or the requestor) requests a request-receiving center, typically a parcel-handling agent, to deliver a packet to a specified destination, for example, a store. The request-receiving center enters necessary codes, including items such as the names and addresses of the destination and the sender, into predetermined blanks of a delivery label. In addition, a sorting number indicating a region where the destination is located, is also put in a space on the delivery label. The delivery label is then affixed to the packet. Subsequently, the packet with a delivery label affixed thereon is sent using a transport car, to a distribution center where a person in charge of distribution sorts the parcels by destination region based on their sorting numbers. Finally, the packet is delivered to the specified destination by a delivery car.
However, the distribution system described above has a drawback in that a parcel requested for delivery may be erroneously carried to a region which is entirely different from that of the intended destination due to a sorting error. Because the person in charge of distribution at the private parcel receiving center sorts packages by destination region manually, that is, by visually checking their sorting numbers. This makes human error inevitable.
Addressing the problem of the conventional labeling system described above, the present invention provides an electronic tag which, while fully utilizing the existing delivery system, allows parcels requested for delivery to be automatically sorted by destination region.